Outspoken Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was released on bail in Beijing yesterday nearly three months after he was detained during the government’s biggest crackdown on activists in years.
Police released him after he confessed to tax evasion and because he suffers from a “chronic disease”, the official Xinhua news agency said.
“I’m fine. I’m perfectly fine. My health is fine,” Mr Ai told Britain’s ITV television as he returned to his home.
The burly, bearded artist would not comment on the conditions in detention.
“No I cannot say anything. I’m really sorry. Please understand that. I’m so happy I’m home and thank you,” he told ITV News.
The release of Mr Ai, who was taken into custody at Beijing’s international airport on April 3 while trying to board a flight to Hong Kong, was somewhat unexpected as authorities had suggested he was involved in massive tax fraud.
The detention of the avant-garde artist – whose work was on display at London’s Tate Modern gallery this year – sparked an international outcry, with the United States and the European Union leading calls for his release.
Mr Ai, 54, was released because of “his good attitude in confessing his crimes”, his willingness to repay the taxes he owes, and on medical grounds, Xinhua said. Mr Ai has diabetes.
The report, citing police, said the Beijing Fake Cultural Development Ltd., a company controlled by Mr Ai, was found to have “evaded a huge amount of taxes and intentionally destroyed accounting documents”.
His lawyer, Liu Xiaoyuan, said late yesterday he had received a text message from Mr Ai confirming he had been released.
Mr Ai’s sister Gao Ge said she and her mother were still waiting to hear from the artist.
“We haven’t had any contact with him, we still haven’t seen him,” she said.
“The police haven’t told us he has been released. Journalists called us and told us about the Xinhua report.”
Mr Ai’s mobile was at first switched off, and then calls rang busy or went unanswered. The phone of his wife Lu Qing was switched off.
The son of a poet revered by China’s early Communist leaders, Mr Ai helped design the Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, but has since become a thorn in the government’s side.
The artist has angered authorities with his involvement in a number of sensitive activist campaigns and his relentless criticism of the ruling Communist Party.